I put together a playlist of dark/“yami” songs from Japanese music.
They’re feelings you can’t tell anyone, but everyone has some abnormal emotions.
A lot of the lyrics are scary, but if you listen, I think many people will find them relatable.
It’s a collection of masterpieces that turn messy, irreconcilable emotions—things that can’t be wrapped up with pretty words—into song.
- [Melancholy] For when you want to sink all the way. Masterpieces that depict various kinds of gloom.
- [Yami Song] A mental breakdown track that sings the true feelings of a melancholic heart
- [Dark Songs] A carefully curated selection of deeply dark tracks and heartbreaking songs that accompany you in tough times
- Masterpieces that sing of despair. Recommended popular songs.
- [Trash Songs] A carefully curated selection of tracks about the lowest, worst kind of loser—and hidden gems!
- [Yami Song] Fight darkness with darkness!? Deep tracks that stay close to your pain
- A masterpiece that sings of loneliness. Recommended popular songs.
- Hidden gems among tear-jerker songs. Recommended popular tracks.
- A spine-chilling scary song: masterful tracks that evoke fear and eerie recommended songs
- Masterpieces that sing about loneliness: J-pop to listen to when you're alone
- [Songs to Listen to When You Want to Die] I want to disappear... A song to support you who feel that way
- A melancholic “yami” song that was a hit in the 2000s. A bittersweet track.
- Stalker’s Song: A Rhapsody of Twisted Love
Hidden gems of “yami songs.” Recommended popular tracks (1–10)
neat freakHatsune Miku
I don’t need these filthy emotions.
Humans are too greedy.
For the sake of happiness, they easily go along with others, and when it becomes inconvenient, they betray them.
Everyone’s dirty.
That’s what the song is about.
If you’re going through something hard in your relationships, give it a listen.
It’ll definitely make you feel better.
The Howling of the Lost OneKagamine Rin
A song about a teenage boy agonizing and lamenting because he can’t understand the feelings of the girl he likes.
He’s good at science and math but bad at language arts, and he uses school subjects as a metaphor to express how unreadable her feelings are.
He’s also pessimistic about the fact that he’s drunk on love and tormented by it.
Delusional DiaryShido
A visual kei rock band formed in 2003.
“Mousou Nikki” (Delusion Diary) is a track included on their first album, released in 2004, and is loved as a live staple.
The lyrics depict a girl who is writing a diary of her delusions.
BathroomShiina Ringo
If you like Sheena Ringo, you’ll probably get hooked on the instantly catchy, upbeat melodies and the lyrics that spark your imagination.
It’s a song that lingers, especially with lines like “Once I’ve completely melted, be sure to eat me right away,” which are particularly suggestive and leave a lasting impression.
shameless; indecentchanmina
A track by Chanmina that portrays a destructive love driven purely by instinct.
Released digitally in September 2021, it drew attention as the title song of her third full-length album, Harenchi, which came out in October of the same year.
In March 2022, it was chosen as the theme song for ABEMA’s dating reality show The Grass Is Greener Next Door 3, becoming a long-running hit with over 200 million streams.
The lyrics, where wavering emotions, desire, and guilt intersect, vividly depict the peril of a love you know you shouldn’t pursue but can’t stop.
Those moments when you surrender to impulses you can’t even control yourself are sure to resonate with anyone who’s felt the same.
terrorKagamine Rin
I recommend listening to this when you’re having a hard time—when you’re sad, lonely, feeling down, or when nothing seems to be going right.
When the chorus hits, the tempo suddenly picks up and the pitch goes higher.
The rhythm really sticks in your head.
It feels like a song that puts your own emotions into music.
SayokoHatsune Miku
It’s a classic “depressing song.” I OD (overdose) and feel floaty, but the pain and loneliness won’t go away.
All my friends seem busy, and it doesn’t look like they have time to deal with someone like me.
Even if I complain, nothing changes and it doesn’t satisfy me.
That’s what the song is about.